Club historian Michael Roberts selects his Collingwood best 23 based on performances on Anzac Day across the last 30 years.
Thirty years of Anzac Day games have given us a treasure trove of memories that will last forever – huge marks, clutch goals and heart stopping results.
Those games have also helped define the careers of many of the participants. It’s the biggest home-and-away match of the year and you can make a big name for yourself by turning it on in games like this.
So this year, as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of one of the great days on the football calendar, we set out to choose a Collingwood team designed for Anzac Day.
These are the players who always seemed to shine on the April 25 stage.
Some choices were easy: Swanny, for example, always produced something special on Anzac Day and Pendles has won three Anzac Medals. But others were more problematic.
We tried to make it more about a body of work rather than a ‘one-hit wonder’ situation, but there were a few instances where I couldn’t help myself, such as with Mark McGough, whose ‘one-hit’ was so extraordinary that we just had to include him.
Of course there were plenty who were unlucky, including big names like Travis Cloke, Dale Thomas and Scott Russell.
But there isn’t room for everyone, and good players were always going to miss out.
But this is a seriously good team. And we’d love to have seen it in action – on Anzac Day.
Defenders
Heath Shaw
So much drive out of defence and one who always typified the Anzac spirit
Darcy Moore
Obviously a great player and who better to deliver the post-match speech?
Scott Burns
Absolute spirit animal through so many Anzac (and other) contests in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Ben Johnson
Won the Medal in 2006 and was famously called ‘Craig’ when being announced.
James Clement
So many famous battles with James Hird, among others.
Nick Daicos
The rest of the midfield is so strong that we can afford to play him off half-back.
Midfielders
Brodie Grundy
Played plenty of good games on Anzac Day, but his performance in 2022, when he kept playing on and guiding us to a win despite having done his PCL, was truly heroic
Scott Pendlebury
Three Anzac Medals say it all.
Dane Swan
Unforgettable goals, mesmerising performances, and lots of cheek – just about the first name on the teamsheet.
Steele Sidebottom
Always a great performer in all games against the Bombers.
Nathan Buckley
Many great games and moments on Anzac Day and was single-handedly responsible for the first draw – and all the mythology that flowed from it – by choosing to pass in the dying seconds rather than try for a score himself.
Paul Seedsman
People forget how good he was in the Anzac Day game in 2015.
Forwards
Alan Didak
Nobody loved a big stage more than Dids, and he even pulled out a rare speccie too.
Chris Tarrant
An Anzac Medal in a losing side for the mercurial Taz.
Jordan De Goey
That goal out of mid-air in 2018, the sealer in 2019 – Jordy’s had some big moments on Anzac Day.
Paul Medhurst
How good would it be to see the 2008 Anzac Medallist playing in the same forward line as Jamie Elliott?
Sav Rocca
Two Anzac Medals and nine goals in the first game – can’t do much more than that.
Jamie Elliott
Mark of the Year (almost), goals from outside the boundary – Jamie has done it all.
Interchange
Mark McGough
Winning the Anzac Medal in just your second game and as a teenager still at school, is still an outrageous thing to have done.
Adam Treloar
Remember Ads and Crispy taking the ball the length of the field for a goal in 2018? He won the Medal that day.
Anthony Rocca
His huge torpedo goal in ’97 would have been enough on its own to win him selection here.
Jarryd Blair
We’d bring him on late to soccer through the winner with seconds left.
Jack Ginnivan (sub)
Gee his game in 2022 was something special.
Collingwood's best 23 based on Anzac Day performances from 1995 to 2024: |
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FB |
Heath Shaw |
Darcy Moore |
Scott Burns |
HB |
Ben Johnson |
James Celement |
Nick Daicos |
C |
Steele Sidebottom |
Scott Pendlebury |
Paul Seedsman |
HF |
Alan Didak |
Chris Tarrant |
Jordan De Goey |
FF |
Paul Medhurst |
Sav Rocca |
Jamie Elliott |
Foll |
Brodie Grundy |
Scott Pendlebury |
Dane Swan |
Int |
Mark McGough |
Adam Trealor |
Anthony Rocca |
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Jarryd Blair |
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Sub |
Jack Ginnivan |
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